ICI chlorine tanks

Sorted - Found the notebook with the final notes.

Mike,

My reference database gives the following for 14T ICI Chlorine tankers :-

Model Railways - 8/90; Model Railway Constructor - 1/86; "RAILWAYS IN PROFILE No.4, B.R. WAGONS, RAILTANKS" : CHEONA PUBLICATIONS - P50; "PRIVATE OWNER FREIGHT WAGONS ON B.R." : BRADFORD BARTON - P15; "BRITISH RAILWAY GOODS WAGONS IN COLOUR" : MIDLAND PUBLISHING - P57;

The first two *might* include drawings - I can't check here at work.

I think the model which you recall was by Hornby Dublo, wasn't it? Tri-ang and Hornby Dublo did the bogie ICI / Murgatroyds wagon, I think.

Regards, John Isherwood.

Thanks for that - Now I have found my notes used to make the models (about

20 years ago and currently in storage) I realise I was misremembering nearly everything about these tanks!

Hornby did a four wheeled chlorine tanker in OO, I think I may have been wrong in attributing that to Triang, the bogie tank was I believe a Murgatroyds tanker, according the the fotopic site of Paul Bartlett there were four designs of these bogie tanks, all dating from the early 1950s and condemned in 1990. As far as I know they were not used by ICI (I could be wrong on that). Murgatroyds (a chemical company based at a salt mine in Sandbatch) became Murgatroyds Division of Hays Chemicals (but at least some of their four wheeled chlorine tanks ended up in BP Chemicals livery as there is a photo of one in British Railways Goods Wagons in Colour by Robert Hendry). At least one of the bogie tanks is preserved but carries a Hays livery which they never had when in service.

As I understand it the ICI unfitted four wheelers ran on a 10'6" wheelbase, length over headstocks seems to have been the standard 17'6", the tank was small, I believe about 4'6" in diameter and had no ladders and although unfitted they ran up to about 1983. The only photo I remember seeing of these in traffic showed a lengthy rake of tanks as a block load, but I haven't yet traced any details on their employment.

ICI also converted some former acid tanks on 12' wheelbase chassis (which I think was pretty standard) to carry chlorine. Most acid tanks had barells between 4' and 5'6" in diameter but I have not yet tried to measure the photos I have to get a guestimate on these tanks.

The ICI four wheelers of either type are therefore an easy wagon to build if you are prepared to use a standard 10' wheelbase chassis for the standard chlorine wagon, and these can be built with the correct wheelbase in N by cutting down a Peco long wheelbase chassis. I was confused as I thought I had used the old W and T kit to make the chlorine wagons, but I used those for BR ferry ethylene oxide tanks of a totally different type.

I will be collating the data I have and adding it to the website once I unearth the models to photograph for illustration.

Regards

Mike

From Mr Bartlett's fotopic site (Lots of pics of both types, the ICI tanks are all in the later horizontal orange band livery )

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ICI had an extensive fleet of unfitted wagons for liquid chlorine built between 1943 and 1953 with some similar, longer wheelbase wagons for hydrofluoric acid. They went out of use in 1983. Details and drawing were published as Bartlett, Paul W. & Fidczuk, Peter (1990) Tank wagons, part 2. ICI 14ton liquid chlorine tanks. Model Railways vol. 7 (part 8) pp 421 -

425.

Small bogie tank wagons were always unusual in Britain. Murgatroyds owned a series of small liquid chlorine tank wagons which were later owned and operated by British Petroleum Chemicals. There were 4 designs. These photographs, which include many detailed ones, were of a batch of 8 numbered T201 - 208 registered BRM 183943 - 183950 built by L&Y wagon at Grazebrook and by Standard. They carried about 35 tons but had very high tare weights of around 27 - 28 tons. These wagons were condemned in 1990 when many were bought by Allied Steel and Wire at Cardiff for conversion to internal use, being stored in the adjacent Tidal Sidings.

Mike, Hornby-Dublo modelled both the ICI 4-wheeler (on a 12'6'' underframe) and the Murgatroyds bogie tanker whilst Triang modelled the ICI bogie tanker in both OO and TT scales. I had both the Hornby-Dublo models, though only the chassis remains of the 4-wheel one. The bogie one needs a repaint and some decent transfers for BP Chemicals- anyone know of any? As to their usage, block trains would work to large plants, such as the BP Chemicals one at Baglan Bay, but individual wagons would work to places like 'British Celanese' at Spondon or Monsanto Chemicals, on the East Usk branch. Brian

Thanks for that! - I did sort the details of the four wheelers out many years ago, or rather I read somewhere the research someone had done (I seem to recal there is one at the NRM). I was going to include the ICI 10'6" wheelbase tanks in the kit bashing section of the site, but there was something odd about the chassis and until I dig out my original models I cannot remember what it was. Should've made better notes!

Regards

Mike